“Hey Andy, I’ve missed you. Are you feeling okay? Do you need more healing?” Bug was grinning nearly ear to ear as she spoke to Andy.
Andy made a test fist before answering her. “No, I think I’m okay. I take it things went well for you?” Andy noticed the golden radiance around her.
“Yes, but there is no time for that story at the moment. We have much more immediate concerns.” Andy suddenly remembered the dragon that had nearly killed him and pushed himself to his feet only to see it recoiling away from something.
“Uh, what’s scaring it?” Andy asked as he started channeling his mana for what he was sure was a giant fight.
“Oh! That’s the singing; Alfred said it would help us fight the dragon. Alfred knows a ton about monsters now from our quest. It’s really cool. But come on, we’ve gotta fight it, and I can show you what I can do!” Bug’s voice still held her childlike excitement despite how long she had been in these loops, and as always, it seemed to calm everyone around her.
Andy saw the others getting to their feet, looking around in bewilderment at the scene that greeted them. Only Ralth seemed to fully take in the change of their fortune fast enough to start acting.
He wasn’t sure exactly what Ralth was doing, but he had started channeling, and the webs of energy around him were expanding to pierce everyone around them. He saw the singing being drawn into the threads as they grew and pulsating that energy back into Ralth. Somehow, Ralth was absorbing the energy the dogs had created to fight the dragon. Finally, a plan was starting to form in his head. Thanks to Bug’s arrival they may just win this yet.
“Twonger, do you see what Ralth is doing? Can you match your sword to that? Either way, keep Bill and Ralth safe while they do their thing. Bill grab a couple of Ralth’s flows and a one of mine. Amplify the pressure above the dragon's head and push the energy from the singing into it. Serilina get Mr. Wiggles to the reality tear. We need it wider, just big enough to shove the dragon back through it. Libby and Andrew get over here to me and Bug I need your help.” Andy bellowed out as loud as he could manage.
“I’ll try, but I’ve never harmonized to something new so fast!” Twonger yelled back as he ran to where Bill and Ralth were now working on intricate channels. He saw Serilina grab her cat and disappear into a flow of water. Hopefully, they were listening. Andrew and Libby had joined him as well. It was time to make things very dangerous for himself again.
“Andrew, I need a penguin army. Well, actually, I really need a polar bear. Do you think you’re up to it?” Andy needed strength. They had to push this dragon, and that wasn’t going to be easy.
“Probably. I think, ugh, I wasn’t very conscious when I did this last time. Just a second.” Andrew's confidence seemed to shrink with each word as the man kept fiddling with his hands.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Hey Andrew, it’s gonna be okay. I’m a paladin now, so I know these things! So just think real hard on what Andy said because I really want to see some penguins. That sounds amazing. I wonder if they are any good at D&D. Oh, we need to all play D&D. We haven’t done that in a while. So that means get us some penguins for D&D, Andrew!” Bug cheered him on.
“Bug, as much as I’ve grown to dislike you less, can you please shut up!” The annoyance in Andrew’s voice was causing him to get louder with each word, but Andy noticed what accompanied that growing frustration. The mana inside Andrew was starting to move around his body. He wondered if Bug had done this on purpose or not. He made a mental note to make sure Andrew learned to channel without the use of rage once they got out of this.
Mana burst from Andrew’s fingers into the air and solidified into a window-like portal in front of him. Through it, a few penguins were playing with a large bear. The bear spotted the portal, roared loudly, and then crashed through it at full speed.
“Perfect, thank you, Andrew.” As the bear crashed through, Andy also spotted the tear widening far above their heads. Ralth, Bill, and Twonger were fighting directly against the dragon’s head now, as the fear had finally given way to a fight. He was pretty sure he had also spotted a flying Gretel launching darts of light at the monster. Interesting, just what had these dogs learned?
The dragon roared and snapped at Twonger, just barely missing the man. “Alright, no more time to waste, everyone push. I’m going to lighten our load as best I can, but we need to heave this damned thing back into the abyss!” Andy yelled as he blanketed the dragon's bottom half with as much mana as he could spare and still move.
The Dragon moved slightly backward into the tear. “Push!” Andy screamed again as the dragon roared louder overhead. It had realized what was happening and apparently started slamming its head around in a frenzied rage.
Andy saw Libby’s several ports on the back of her open, and steam began pouring from her back as she was pushing. Whatever she had done was working, though, as the dragon moved even further. More penguins were pouring through the portal, and each joined them in their collective heaving, further adding to their growing momentum.
“Molly, lend us your mastiff strength!” Bug cried out as mana erupted from her. Apparently, she could cast spells now, a little more literally than everyone else, but he wasn’t about to complain as he felt himself grow stronger.
Bug’s spell was the final push they needed, as the dragon finally toppled over an edge on the other side of the tear and fell into the void with a final deafening roar.
“How do we seal it? We’ve gotta close it before something else gets through!” Andy yelled in exhaustion. He could feel Bug’s spell already fading, and with it went most of his remaining strength.
“Working on it!” It was Bart and Alfred. They looked like they were sewing the tear shut with magical stitching.
“Alright, I’m just going to sit here for a second.” Andy plopped down on the ground.
“It’s alright, Andy. You can rest for a bit. We’ve got this,” Bug reassured him.
“Thanks, Bug.”